


</Of Packs and Cyclones>

by JackalPinesOfHouseEvergreen



Series: </Family> [9]
Category: Scorpion (TV 2014), Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Emotions, Grief/Mourning, It's 5am and I just wanna post this and get to sleep, Male Slash, Not Beta Read, Single Parent Derek Hale, Summary may change, Temporary Character Death, The Hale Family (Teen Wolf) Lives, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:27:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23170045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackalPinesOfHouseEvergreen/pseuds/JackalPinesOfHouseEvergreen
Summary: As per protocol, Team Scorpion has to talk to a shrink about what happened....Life goes on, even after it seems like a betrayal that it does. Jason's acting out and Derek's trying to help his son through this. Happy, Toby, and Sylvester become helpers in that department by being the make-shift pack Jason needs....Walter gets a cryptic voicemail.
Series: </Family> [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/775821
Comments: 20
Kudos: 65





	

_“So...tell me about Agent Stilinski.”_

* * *

“I’ll be at the house with my phone on at full volume. If you wanna leave early, just call me and I’ll come to get you, okay?” Derek told Jason as he knelt down to his eye level and zipped up his sweater. 

Jason merely nodded. Ever since hearing what happened, Jason hasn’t spoken much. It’s worrying Derek, but so far Jason’s therapist reassures him that it’s normal. He needs to have patience and give Jason time to come to terms with losing a parent. To be attentive and still try to communicate with him, but to give Jason time. 

Derek wishes he could take away his son’s pain entirely. He still finds himself breaking down thinking about losing Stiles, that he can’t imagine what it means for his son. 

He cupped Jason’s chin with his thumb and pointer finger to make him look up a bit and gave him his best smile, “I love you. Try to have a good day.” 

Jason merely nodded before shouldering his backpack and heading off to where his class lines up to go in. 

“Derek...hey. How’s Jason?” 

Derek turned when he heard Paige’s voice. He turned back to face the direction Jason headed and sighed. He usually didn’t leave until he saw Jason’s class head inside. “He’s...withdrawn. But they say it’s normal.”

“Of course it is. A loss like that is terrible for anyone, but a child…” She paused. She felt awkward, even though she’s not sure Derek even knew the petty fight that she and Stiles had before the threat. “Look, I meant the messages I said. If you need anything...feel free to ask. I can pick him up for you or we can take the boys someplace to be distracted…” 

“Jason’s not really talking to his friends from school. He honestly mostly speaks with Sylvester when they talk comic books. Or with Happy when she teaches him about car engines. Or Toby when they play poker.”

“You’re letting Toby teach him how to play poker?” Paige asked with a raised eyebrow. She tried not to be hurt or jealous. _That_ was a petty move. But she couldn’t deny the ache of it that bloomed in her stomach because she hasn’t really spoken to the team much outside of Cabe and sometimes Walter, who really just speaks mostly with Ralph. 

“It started out with helping him with his math homework,” Derek replied with a shrug. “I appreciate it. Jason’s not completely shutting down, and I don’t want to force him to do anything that might upset him. He and Ralph weren’t really friends...and I don’t think that’s changed much.” 

Paige winced a bit at the reminder. Stiles had commented about the friction between the boys. She talked to Ralph about it at the time and tried to make him understand that it was okay if she and Walter weren’t together. That it didn’t mean that Walter would stop being his friend just because he was dating Jason’s father. Ralph didn’t see the merit or logic in trying to befriend Jason. Things weren’t bad or worse, they just were a pair of kids who weren’t friends. 

Though she got a feeling that Ralph might be feeling some guilt himself. He wanted to go to the memorial service for Stiles, but in the end, he wasn’t able to go up to Jason and asked to go home instead. 

“I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say. 

“Don’t be. They’re both good kids. And...it’s okay to not be friends so long as there’s no fighting.” Derek echoed some of the words Jason himself had said to Stiles. 

“Right….I’ll see you around.” 

Derek ‘hmmed’ in response and continued to stand there until Jason was securely inside the building. 

* * *

**_Toby_ **:

_“He was an interesting case study. Had a lot of the usual suspect tropes that come with a Fed Man, but he wasn’t defined by them. Most men use their badge as a shield and explanation for every move they make. He had his fall from grace and hit rock bottom after the loss of his father and the unfair difference in money and class with his ex over the custody of his child. But he was made of old noble virtues. With some hard work, he got back on his feet again.”_

_“That’s...a lot of facts.”_

_“Well, you said to tell you about Agent Stilinski.”_

_“Fair. Doctors are the worst patients. Let me be more specific Dr. Curtis...tell me about **your** relationship with Agent Stilinski.” _

_“Platonic. It was my boss who was sleeping with him.”_

_“You’re deflecting.”_

_“Is that your professional opinion?” Toby asked with a raised eyebrow._

_“My professional opinion is that Agent Stilinski was a co-worker...and a friend. You care and you’re not afraid to show emotion but at the same time you want to be stronger, maybe for your partner and team who may have greater difficulty expressing themselves. You know better than they might that those feelings don’t go away. This is a safe place…”_

_“It is.” Toby agreed quietly. “All of California is safe because my friend died to make sure it was.”_

* * *

When it was time for recess, Jason went to his usual sitting area where he usually met with Daniel and discussed comics. The last couple of days it’s been Daniel who’s done most of the talking and he’s really the only other kid he likes interacting with at the moment. 

_“Hi, Jason._ ” Daniel’s tablet spoke out. 

He looked up from his latest issue of Super Fun Guy and gave Daniel a small nod in greeting. 

_“How are you feeling today?_ ” Daniel asked as he sat next to Jason. 

Jason didn’t know exactly how well Daniel understood his situation, but he knew that his friend knew he was sad. And he was worried. So he smiled a bit. “Still sad. I miss my dad.”

_“He was cool.”_ Daniel typed into his tablet.

“Thanks. He was. Super cool.” Jason agreed.

Jason and Daniel discussed comics for a bit before Ralph came up to them. Assuming Ralph wanted to talk to Daniel, Jason pulled out his comic and turned away. He heard their greetings but when it didn’t go beyond that he looked over to see if Ralph had left.

He hadn’t. Ralph was looking at Jason and when they made eye contact he cleared his throat and raised his hand to wave a bit, “Hi…”

“Dineen.” Jason acknowledged and then went back to reading his comic. 

“The new Spiderman comics come out today. My mom’s going to drive Sylvester today after school...do you wanna go?”

Spiderman was his dad’s favorite hero, he liked to read the new comics as a way to remember his dad fondly. He didn’t want those feelings to be smudged by whatever rivalry he and Ralph had. They weren’t friends. 

“No,” Jason replied. 

“You sure? We’re going to get ice cream after. All awesome, fun, kid things!” 

His dad would have told him that this was a peace offering. An olive branch. That it would be a big boy decision to take it. 

But his dad wasn’t here anymore. With that despair clutching his heart firmly, he scoffed as he stood. Before storming off he said, “The grown-ups aren’t around. Let’s not pretend like we’re friends.” 

* * *

  
**Happy:**

_“He was a Fed.”_

_“But he was also a friend?” The doctor coaxed._

_Happy stared at the shrink and he stared back patiently._

_“Yeah.” Happy eventually relented. The doctor didn’t ask anything else and just waited for her to continue. It took a good fifteen minutes of silence before she sighed deeply before going into detail. “I don’t_ **_do_ ** _emotions! Making friends doesn’t really matter. I had some. I had a job. I had a place. Hell, I even had a Toby. But Stilinski got to me...he’s not like us. But he’s not normal either. He was a weird bridge and he was patient and knew what to say or what to not say. He was there even after he didn’t have a reason to be. He checked in. He had a lot on his plate but he still made room for us. And it sucks big time that he’s gone..”_

* * *

“Do we have to come here?” Jason asked Derek as they approached the estate. 

“It’s only dinner, Jason. And they’re your family.”

Derek knew Jason had issues with his family. He’d been more than aware of their thoughts and feelings about Stiles, not that they cared too much about hiding them. After what happened, Jason couldn’t help but feel anger towards the family. To help Jason not feel odd or bad about seeing a psychologist, Derek sees one too. Between those talks and listening to what Jason’s doctor has to say, Jason feels that if the Hale family had been more loving and welcoming about Stiles, Stiles might have decided to go away for that family trip they all took and not have been around when the call to the job came in that took him away. 

“They’re my relatives by blood. They’re not my family.” Jason said coldly. He was fully aware that he might be heard, but he didn’t care. He was acting how they showed him a Hale should act. To say and do what he thought and wanted, not caring for other’s feelings. 

Derek sighed but he knew he couldn’t do anything about it. His family might just be paying their dues for how they acted towards Stiles. It wasn’t going to be easy, but he hoped with time Jason could come to forgive them, and maybe in that time his family could learn a bit of humility and remember that their status, either their money or species, didn’t make them better than anyone else. 

They were greeted by maid and his father. Derek nodded to him before they embraced. Samuel gave Jason a small smile, but before he could even say hello to his grandson, Jason bolted. 

“Gonna go wash up.” 

They watched him go before heading to the dining room. 

“How’s he holding up?” Samuel asked. 

“As you’d expect. I doubt we’ll be staying for dessert.” Derek answered. 

“Yeah, we heard him,” Peter stated. 

“He knows we love him, right?” Talia asked Derek. 

“Of course he does. But mom, he’s hurt. Stiles was getting better. He was getting his life together. Maybe we weren’t a traditional family, but it was working...and then Stiles is taken away.” Derek tries to explain without going too deep into what his therapy sessions have concluded. He loves his family, but they could all be stubborn. 

“Stiles-” Talia began. 

Derek gave her a look that said ‘careful with your words’. 

She gave him a look in turn that read ‘I know!’. “Stiles was an admirable agent. We came to see that...he died nobly. Protecting a lot of people and prioritizing his pup. We’re sorry if...we weren’t on the best of terms.” 

“Dead men tell no tales, so I doubt they listen to them either,” Jason said as he arrived at the dining room and sat next to his father. 

“Jason.” Derek chided. Even if he didn’t want to fight with Jason, Derek knew he still had to parent. 

Peter raised his hand at Derek. “No. That was a good one.” 

Talia and Samuel shared a look with Derek before deciding to carry on with dinner. They served themselves and it was quiet for a while. 

“How’s school?” Laura asked Jason. 

Jason shrugged, “Same.”

“That can’t be true. You’d never learn anything new.” Cora tried to get more out of him. 

“School’s school. You’ve all been through it. Or paid your way through it. The only real difference is that people ask me about my dad. Since none of you cared about him before, I don’t see why we’d talk about it now.” 

“Sweetheart, that’s not true.” Samuel tried to say. 

“Isn’t it? None of you liked him cos he was poor and human. Now he’s dead!” He cried as he bolted out of his chair and ran out of the dining room. 

Derek stood, not sure what to say.

Peter smiled sarcastically and cheekily said, “Same time next week, nephew?” 

* * *

**  
****Sylvester:**

_“Do I have to talk about him being gone? Can I...can I talk about how good a friend he was?”_

_The shrink gave a small smile and nodded, “Of course.”_

_Sylvester sighed in relief, but his eyes were watery and it took him a few tries to be able to get something out. “He was...amazing! A jock but a protective one. He never said no when I wanted a ride to the comic book store. When I talked about Super Fun Guy he listened genuinely. Others on the team did too but Super Fun Guy wasn’t ever their thing, it wasn’t really Stiles’ either but he still learned about him to talk with me about it. Well, I got his son Jason into it too. We hang out and Stiles would take us to his favorite diner, which was given an A by the health department and had the best curly fries ever! I didn’t care for them but Stiles loved them...and...and he...he was just really easy to talk to.” His smile faded and he blinked away a few tears. “I’m gonna miss that…”_

* * *

  
  


“You’re brooding more than usual,” Toby commented as he joined Derek as they watched Happy explain how a different part of an engine worked. Roscoe was coming along wonderfully. 

Sylvester was next to Jason retelling him all the news he’s heard about the next comic issue of Super Fun Guy from the online forums. He naturally spoke when Happy finished her instruction and explanation and Jason was trying for himself. 

Derek sometimes wasn’t sure how he felt that his son’s closest friends who made him feel the most normal were these three. But they were the highlight of Jason’s week, so Derek wasn’t going to turn them away. Turning to look at the shrink, sometimes Derek had to really wonder if he wasn’t really a supernatural creature with how well he could read people. 

“Jason’s acting out.” 

“Really? Seems serene as can be.” Toby commented. 

“He feels...calm, around you guys. But the other day we were having dinner with my family and…”

“The same family who openly hated Stiles and made it hard for him to see his son?” Toby asked sarcastically. When Derek glared at him he raised his hands in a surrender motion. “Look, as hard as it may be, it’s normal. Jason’s a clever kid. And kids pay a lot more attention than adults give them credit for. Whether people pay too much attention to science or not, deep down we understand the cause and effects of life. Something happened, so there has to be a reason for it. Our minds try to find logic in everything, especially the bad stuff. You and I understand the politics of the job better than Jason might right now...as far as his child, still clever, mind understands it...his dad’s gone. Maybe if a single factor or two had been different...he’d still be here.” 

“Like my family being nicer to Stiles. Stiles would have felt more welcomed and had come with us as Paige had with Ralph.” Derek summarized what his therapist told him. 

“Exactly. Jason will learn as he gets older that it’s not so black and white. Won’t hurt less...losing Stiles isn’t easy. But he’ll understand. Right now the best you can do is try to be there for him as he deals with his still developing emotions.” 

* * *

******Cabe:**

_“He was one hell of a soldier and damn good agent. It’s always a shame when the good die young. Never easy, especially when they had plenty to live for. Agent Stilinski was a brave man who looked out for his family, his team, and his country...his loss is greatly felt.”_

* * *

When Walter’s eyes couldn’t keep open anymore, he decided a quick break was in order. Not with sleep, but another cup of coffee or something. His notes were important to show a few potential clients that Scorpion was their best solution. He just needed to get back out there and life and the team would make sense again. 

Walter cursed the coffee machine for being empty. He looked at the clock and realized what time it was. The rest of Scorpion’s members haven’t been around much, he thinks not fully sure, but at this hour less so. Paige had a curfew for Ralph because he thinks it’s a school night. The others had lives outside of work and he… well, his distraction was….gone. 

He brews up more coffee and while he waits for it to be done he checks his phone. 

“Huh, voicemail.” He tries to recall hearing his phone ring, but he must have just been too lost in thought. It happens. He plays the voicemail and he thinks his heart stops. 

* * *

**Paige:**

_“We worked together but...that was about it with us. We weren’t really...friends.”_

_“Care to elaborate on that?” The shrink asked carefully._

_Paige shifted in her seat, crossing and recrossing her legs before clearing her throat. “Before he...died. There was a stupid and petty argument. Uh see...Walter and I had this thing between us, but we never acted on it. Then I had a boyfriend. Agent Stilinski arrived and he and Walter got involved but uh...things got complicated so they split. No, it was more like they were on a break. It was sorta understood they’d go back once the issue was dealt with but it wasn’t...and he caught Walter and I kissing. It was a heat of the moment thing! And...it was all horribly high school and it all seemed so trivial considering the threats that came after and...I never got to say I was sorry for how immature I acted.” She paused for a moment as she shook her head and sighed with disappointment in herself. “I’m supposed to be a moral compass for the team. Help guide them through normal human emotions…”_

_“And you do so with empathy and patience. Explaining natural reactions and such.” The shrink commented. “But Agent Stilinski wasn’t like the rest of Scorpion.”_

_“No. But he was still part of the team...I felt jealous. I guess I knew of what my place was in Walter’s heart. Or I liked to believe it. I wanted to fight for it...maybe I didn’t want Stiles and Walter to be together, but I didn’t want this either. He was a good guy, a great father, and...he deserved a lot more.”_

* * *

“Holy haberdashery Batman! That’s _Stiles_!” Toby exclaimed after hearing the voice mail. 

Walter had called them all in claiming to be an emergency. Well, not everyone. He called Toby, Happy, and Sylvester. Walter wasn’t sure what he had but he knew he needed the full help of Scorpion’s intellect to figure it out. His mind supplied that he should have called Ralph too, but that would mean getting Paige and...and he needed to think clearly and she was a big distraction right now. 

“I know you’re not stupid O’Brien, so you didn’t bring us here for an old and distorted butt dial, so what gives?” Happy demanded. She refused to hope. Not yet anyway. It would hurt too much to think what Walter clearly already was. She needed to be grounded in case the others needed her to be the reminder of cruel reality. 

“I admit...I have a few of Stiles’ voicemails saved. But this isn’t one of them. This is new. The message is hard to make out. I’ve run it through a few programs to try and trace where it came from but I need your help.” Walter said as he showed them his progress thus far. 

“He’s alive…?” Sylvester muttered. His expression was vulnerable and emotional. 

“Yes!” Walter exclaimed  
“No.” Happy said firmly.   
“Maybe,” Toby said with a shrug and so so hand motion. 

The three of them looked between each other. Walter looked ready to fight and Happy was ready to stand her ground. Toby backed away and closer to Sylvester. 

“How can you say he’s not? You heard the message!” Walter exclaimed. 

“You should know better than anyone, _fastest hacker ever_ , that technology can be used in any way. Even to deceit! Taking fragments of videos of Stiles that might be online could have pieced together to say something he’s never said before.” Happy told him. 

“Why did you say maybe?” Walter demanded of Toby. 

Toby winced a bit at the warning glare from Happy but he relented. “No body was found.”

“In the _ocean_ ...after an _explosion_.” Happy pointed out. 

“I know! I _know_ , I do, okay? But Stiles was one of us. I just...This message came from _somewhere_ . From _someone_. It could be our friend. Or it could be a trap by some asshole using our dead friend, which is so not cool. Look, you don’t even need me to tell you that no matter what we think, we’re gonna look into this.”

“But if this _was_ him, why has he been gone for so long without making contact?” Sylvester asked. Happy giving the other two an added, expecting look. 

“Maybe he couldn’t,” Toby replied with a frown.

“Or maybe it’s a trap.” Happy added. 

“Well, that’s what we’re going to find out,” Walter told them. 

* * *

**Walter:**

_“What is there to say? You have a file about him.”_

_“I want_ **_you_ ** _to tell me about him.”_

_“You mean my feelings? That’s irrelevant to Scorpion’s work. Whatever feelings I have don’t interfere with my job. My intellect is incredibly superior and sorting out priorities and facts isn’t hard. Facts and logic are what get the job done. Not feelings. Can you just give me the okay so I can get back to work?”_

**Author's Note:**

> There are people out there who really loved this series. I guess there ARE people out there who watch the same shows as me xD I'm sorry it's taken so long...but after Teen Wolf ended and Scorpion was canceled and both aren't available to stream on any of the services I own....getting inspiration is hard. BUT since this quarantine has been in effect...I don't want to make blatant promises buuuuut...I'm gonna try you guys. 
> 
> This one didn't have any relationships because it was a stepping stone. Getting you guys to the next part while addressing things that happened like grief and how people are or have reacted. It has been a while since I've seen either show, so I hope they're still in character. 
> 
> I'm trying guys. 
> 
> Stay safe and healthy, love you all!


End file.
